Bio

Torey Krug Bio

At 5-foot-9 and 186 pounds, Krug is undersized by ideal NHL defenseman standards, so he went undrafted. But since cracking the Boston Bruins lineup in the fall of 2013, he has worked his way into the heart of the team's defensive blueprint and become a staple on the power play.

Born in Royal Oak, Mich., Krug advanced through the Belle Tire hockey system to suit up one season for Indiana of the United States Hockey League before enrolling at Michigan State.

At 5-foot-9 and 186 pounds, Krug is undersized by ideal NHL defenseman standards, so he went undrafted. But since cracking the Boston Bruins lineup in the fall of 2013, he has worked his way into the heart of the team's defensive blueprint and become a staple on the power play.

Born in Royal Oak, Mich., Krug advanced through the Belle Tire hockey system to suit up one season for Indiana of the United States Hockey League before enrolling at Michigan State.

If Krug's first two seasons could be described as promising, his final season (2011-12) produced a number of honors: CCHA Player of the Year, a First Team All-Star selection and a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, given to the nation's top college player.

NHL teams had no choice but to take notice.

Highly-sought as a free agent, Krug left Michigan State after his junior year and signed with the Boston Bruins. He played two of the final three games of the season, making his NHL debut April 3, 2012, in a 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Two nights later, he scored his first NHL point, an assist in a 3-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators.

Except for one game with the Bruins, he spent the 2012-13 season with Providence of the American Hockey League, where he scored 45 points in 63 games. The turning point came during Boston's 2013 postseason.

Shorthanded on the back line because of injury, Krug was asked to fill a bigger role. Taking full advantage of an ideal opportunity to showcase himself, Krug scored four goals - three on the power play - added two assists, finished with a plus-5 rating and averaged 15:49 of ice time in 15 games as Boston reached the Stanley Cup Finals, only to lose in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Undersized nor not, the Bruins were sold.

Any worries about Krug's size being a durability issue were put to rest over his first complete NHL season. In 2013-14, Krug played 79 games and scored 14 goals and 40 points. Another strong Stanley Cup Playoff followed, with 10 points in 12 games.

On June 30, 2016, Krug signed a four-year contract with the Bruins, one day before he could have become a restricted free agent.